Research Program Assistant II

Requisition Number:

Location:

Description:

The Center for American Indian Health (CAIH) falls under the jurisdiction of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The core activities housed at CAIH include research and service programs focused on reducing infectious diseases and behavioral and mental health problems, and promoting education and wellness.

The goals of the behavioral and mental health prevention projects are to co-design and/or implement culturally relevant interventions and evaluate the impact on improving health and sometimes educational outcomes for Native American children, families and communities.

The mission of the Southwest Hub for American Indian Youth Suicide Prevention Research program as it relates to partner communities on the Navajo Nation is to assist in implementing suicide surveillance and case management system to help identify and refer individuals at risk for suicide to appropriate services (with a focus on youth ages 10 to 24 years old), and to track and report trends and patterns to health and tribal officials. Surveillance data will also be used to develop prevention interventions for Navajo youth at risk for suicide attempts and suicide.

The over-arching goal is to develop successful data-driven and culturally-informed surveillance and intervention programs for Tribal and other communities in which suicide and self-injurious behavior threaten the well-being of youth and their families and limits their opportunities to flourish and lead healthy lives.

The Research Program Assistant II (Case Manager) is based in Shiprock, New Mexico and will report for administrative purposes to the site’s Research Program Supervisor, and for program content purposes to the Hub Study Principal Investigator.

The Research Program Assistant II will be fulfilling responsibilities established through a 5-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to establish the Southwest Hub for American Indian Youth Suicide Prevention Research (Southwest Hub). The Southwest Hub aims to establish a collaborative network of tribal leaders, service providers, suicide prevention experts, policy makers, practitioners and service users in the Southwest region that will be coordinated by Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health (CAIH). The Southwest Hub will facilitate the sharing of resources, cultural assets, surveillance expertise, prevention science and evidence-based informed best practices to overcome youth suicide disparities experienced by the partnering communities, including the Navajo Nation (starting in Shiprock area), White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Hualapai, and Cherokee.

The Research Program Assistant II will support the Shiprock Area’s participation in the grant and continuously report on the progress toward goals and objectives of the grant. The Research Program Assistant II will collaborate with a number of key stakeholders including the Navajo Department of Behavioral Health Services, Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President, Navajo National Tribal Epidemiology Center, advisory boards/councils throughout the Navajo Nation, and local Johns Hopkins staff.

Brief summary of duties and qualifications:

Specific Duties/Responsibilities

Help to build, maintain and utilize a web-based surveillance system following study protocol

Provide follow-up services (e.g., monitor suicide risk and triage to services) to individuals in the Shiprock Area as outlined in the study protocol

Establish and maintain partnerships with local organizations and community members (including, but not limited to, hospitals, schools, government agencies and officials)

Establish and communicate regularly with a Community Advisory Board (CAB) to guide intervention and study development

Liaise, plan and attend meetings, and carry out relevant activities with key stakeholders

Conduct interviews with youth, caregivers, program providers, community members, tribal leaders and other participants in the hub to assess feasibility and acceptability of hub’s key activities

Report findings to Navajo Nation, Agency, and Chapter leadership and work with them to interpret findings in the context of future suicide prevention interventions

Help disseminate tribally approved findings through annual reports, at national conferences and in the scientific literature

Minimum Qualifications

High School Diploma or GED equivalent

Two years of related experience

Additional experience may substitute for required education, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula

* JHU Equivalency Formula: 30 undergraduate degree credits (semester hours) or 18 graduate degree credits may substitute for one year of experience. For jobs where equivalency is permitted, up to two years of non-related college course work may be applied towards the total minimum education/experience required for the respective job.*